Mesmerizing Jellyfish
Credit: Edith A. Widder | Operation Deep Scope 2005 Exploration | NOAA-OE | NOAA

A deep-sea jellyfish, the Atolla wyvillei sends out a rotating pinwheel of blue light that illuminates around the circumference of its body as a "burglar alarm." That is, when a predator has the jellyfish in its clutches, the Atolla wyvillei emits the bright, flashing circular light patterns in hopes of attracting an even bigger predator to attack the original predator. If the jellyfish's burglar alarm plan works, their original predator will let go and swim away out of fear. Or the attacked predator may loosen their grip on the jellyfish, providing it a chance to escape.